Many fans have been ecstatic about the upcoming sequel Joker: Folie à Deux from returning Joker director Todd Phillips. The film will also once again feature actor Joaquin Phoenix as the titular character, however with Lady Gaga joining the fray as his love interest Harley Quinn. One other reported addition is that the film will now be a musical, a massive departure from its predecessor, though director Todd Phillips has shut down concerns from any Joker fans regarding that development.
As the new trailer and recent reports have suggested, Joker: Folie à Deux will be something of a jukebox musical. This means the film will contain musical elements as it includes a soundtrack featuring popular songs. Now Todd Phillips, as shared by the director at CinemaCon via Brandon Davis on X, confirms that “it doesn’t veer too far from the first film.”
Here’s the complete statement from director Todd Phillips and whether or not Joker 2 is a musical, where he adds that “music is an essential element” in the film:
“We’ve never really talked about it like that but it’s a movie where music is an essential element and, to me, it doesn’t veer to far from the first film,” Todd Phillips said. “Yeah, Arthur is weird and aloof…but he has music in him.”
It’ll certainly be interesting to see how Phillips will incorporate music this time around. Especially since he brings up a good point – Arthur certainly does have “music in him,” especially judging by how often he danced in the first film.
Now that he’ll have a romantic partner of sorts, it makes sense to throw more music into the mix. Hopefully we’ll have a better understanding of how well that addition works once the film is released.
Joker: Folie à Deux is slated for release on October 4, 2024. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding the highly-anticipated sequel to Joker as we have them.